Uplift
by Wildebunny the Eternal
Summary: A herd of pikachu catches the eye of a trainer who shatters their world. The way one believes the world works is centered around belief, not truth.


**A/N: This was briefly posted on my alternate account before I took it down for editing and to post on this one.**

 **Uplift**

* * *

It had been generations since the trainer touched were among us. The blessed allowed access to prime foraging grounds as they easily held off competition. Our protector and leader with her fading strength decided to lead us to a safer place or so the tale went.

I believed trainers roamed the world looking to train pokemon that catch their eye. Once their training was complete they would return to bless the herd with their presence. Every generation passed down the tale of paradise they experienced long ago so that the legends would never die.

Our herd lived in a safe forest where we were able to sustain ourselves, but it paled to the tales of paradise from generations past. We competed with the locals over every scrap of fruit, enough to stay alive, but not to thrive. A pidgey landed on a branch. My siblings and I used our electric attacks to drive it away. The apples were ours.

There were twenty of us in all, with five pichus, one of them being my own. We waited for the day when a trainer would grace us with their presence. They valued strong pokemon to train thus we had to fight the ones they used.

The trainers used pokeballs on the worthy, but they were prone to malfunction if the pokemon was too strong. It gave us the incentive to battle the trainer's pokemon while waiting for capture, and it also gave us a chance to prove our worth. I scented human up above. This could be our lucky day as a herd even though the trainer would only take one.

He dismounted the dragonite after landing on the road while scanning for something. We don't make the first move until the trainer displays an interest in us. Our hearts waited in anticipation as the dragon's attention turned towards us.

"Blaze, use flamethrower!"

A stream of fire came towards us. Those agile enough dodged out of the way. We eagerly began our counterattack hoping to impress the trainer while taking delicate care to avoid harming the human. The dragonite launched more streams of fire not at us, but at the trees.

The eighteen of us focused our electrical might upon the dragonite. Our attacks had no effect. A few of us rushed towards the dragonite hoping that our physical strength would fare better. Despair welled up within me fearing that the trainer will choose none of us while the dragonite continuously launched streams of fire as if we weren't even there.

I heard the most terrifying laugh of all coming from the human's lips.

"Blaze, use tail whip!"

The dragonite knocked the closest of us away from his body with a single move. Five of us landed in a pile while I continued focusing my thunder without any discernable effect.

"Use hyper beam!"

A massive beam of light came from the dragonite's mouth towards the clump of five pokemon. One pichu among them. After such a move, I felt relieved as our attacks finally had an effect. Maybe, we would be lucky after all. He threw a pokeball towards the crawling pikachu. We took that as our cue to stop our attacks as he chose one of us. They left with the pikachu. Once her training was complete she would return to lead us to greatness.

My exhilaration quickly turned towards despair as the forest burned around us. Those of us able to move tried to wake the ones that didn't despite how exhausted we were. I nudged my mate as she as one of the brave ones that tried to attack the dragonite up close. She also took the full force of the hyper beam. Her body didn't move even as the herd had escaped the burning forest.

I pushed aside my own grief as my own pup, and the newly orphaned pichu nuzzled me for comfort. Only fifteen of us remained with two suffering from deadly burns. We tried to comfort them as best we could, but there were no berries available for use. The flames engulfing the forest threatened to choke us to death.

The fire advanced too fast, we had to leave the pikachus suffering from burns behind. It wasn't easy, but there was no other choice. Those of us fit enough for combat held off hostile pokemon as we searched for a new place to live.

Even though we were free from the burning forest, I refused to give in to exhaustion. We had to protect the pichus if nothing else. Only four remained since that encounter. It wasn't peaceful by any means, we rotated who kept watch. The ones who slept had to trust the ones standing vigil as sounds of battle echoed throughout their rest. Rattatas didn't hesitate to attack us.

A few hours later it was my turn for relief. I was hungry and exhausted as we didn't have the luxury for any food and I launched a plethora of attacks to keep our herd safe. Even then it took urging by the others before I allowed myself to sleep. Two pichus snuggled into my side trying to comfort me.

It certainly wasn't easy as the sound of battle woke me up more than once while the herd prohibited me from staying awake as I had to sleep. Without food, the herd lost strength with every passing day in a hostile environment. As exhausted as we were, we had to fight for the right to eat. We attacked the rattatas living near a tree even the pichus pitched in.

We managed to win, but at great cost, our numbers were down to ten, two pichus and eight pikachus. There was enough food for a single day. The encounter with the human was fresh on our minds. When the humans came next, we disagreed on what to do. A few radicals among us dared to propose a preemptive strike while the pokemon were still in their balls. Others suggested hiding away and waiting for them to pass.

I lost faith in the tales of the past, but not all of us did. The ones who still believed set out to confront the trainer.

"Wurm, I choose you!"

A caterpie appeared next to the trainer.

Three pikachu easily dispatched it with their thunder shock. However, the trainer sent out yet another pokemon. He sent them out one at a time but recalling them after taking a single hit from each while his own landed a pitiful blow.

"Sheldon, I choose you." The trainer sent out blastoise after five of his pokemon sustained wounds. "Sheldon, use hydro pump."

A stream of water hit one of the brave three sending his body crashing through multiple trees. The trainer and the blastoise walked away as if the battle was over. This incident convinced all but one that humans were dangerous, and the legends were nothing but a lie. Only nine of us remained.

Desperation set in after many sunrises and sunsets food was running scarce once more. There was no way to expand our territory. It was then I had my first taste of flesh. It started first with a rattata when there was truly not enough fruit to eat. We gave every bit of fruit to the pichus while gorging on flesh ourselves despite how much it clashed with our stomachs.

If we saw humans accompanied by pokemon we burrowed into the earth else, it was a meal as they weren't quick enough to launch a pokeball before we killed them. This unnatural existence carried on for the sake of necessity. Every day might be our last.

Trees started to bloom once more, right before we ran out of fruit for the pichus. We were teaching the young how to forage for fruit. I scented human which made me signal everyone to hide until we could see what they were.

A pichu rushed forwards unheeding of my orders. "Mama."

The captured pikachu returned to us. She never uttered a single word, acting cold, aloof and distant. We eagerly embraced her at first despite the ever-approaching scent of human. I remembered that human's scent all too well. It was the same human who destroyed our home.

Some of us began to celebrate desperately hoping that the legends of old were true despite everything that happened. A single command from the trainer was all it took for her to turn on us. "Sparky, use thunderbolt!" It might have been my imagination, but I think I saw tears from the corners of her eyes. The mother attacked her own offspring, shocking all of us. We tried to talk to her, but no answers came. We had to defend the young.

The trainer laughed as the mother took on more and more hits without any retaliation. I directed my rage towards the human, but despite my attacks striking true, the human was unaffected. Anger overwhelmed my thoughts as I charged in only for him to easily kick me away. He broke several of my bones with just one kick.

"Sparky, use slam!"

I spared a glance at the other battle; his own mother snapped his neck. Everyone within the herd loosed their anger towards the killer enough for her to die.

"Blaze, I choose you!"

That was the name of that dragonite that we fought so long ago. I couldn't move from my current position.

"Blaze, use flamethrower!"

The dragonite aimed his attack at the forest. We were going to lose our home again. A pokeball traveling towards me sealed my fate.

Immense pleasure coursed through my being as it was the greatest experience I've ever felt. There was a soft fluffy rock to lay my body to sink into while experiencing extreme joy. It was perfect. Hours must have passed before he released me.

I saw myself falling face first onto a rapidash who singed my fur. Only for him to recall me back into this pokeball, now it was endless agony. Not only did the burns hurt, but endless electricity coursed through my veins without any way of breaking out of this prison.

Pleasure shifted to torment at a moment's notice. I wished to do anything for this cycle to end. It had no rhyme or reason. Every time he released me was for an even more terrifying purpose before he recalled me back into the ball. There were several horrifying moments ranging from into a stream of fire, falling from drastic heights, underwater while fearing of drowning.

I was momentarily gratefully as he released me into a room which had pictures of multiple pikachus in intimate positions on the wall. It made me cry as it brought back memories of my mate that perished many sunsets ago. A few hours passed, and I remained free. His terrifying purpose became clear as I scented my daughter which made me recoil in fear. She was a pikachu now just like me.

There was no joyous reunion as we both learned that we're only playthings to the whims of man.


End file.
